Holder for mounting removable fuse in electrical apparatus



y 13, 1969 A. J. CHARBONNEAU 3,444,497

HOLDER FOR MOUNTING REMOVABLE FUSE IN ELECTRICAP APPARATUS Filed Sept. 21, 1967 3,444,497 Patented May 13, 1969 3,444,497 HOLDER FOR MOUNTING REMOVABLE FUSE IN ELECTRICAL APPARATUS Albert J. Charbonneau, Pittsfield, Mass., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 669,569 Int. Cl. H01h 85/02, 85/46 U.S. Cl. 337-488 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fuse holder for mounting a removable fuse in an electrical apparatus. The fuse holder includes a pair of terminal members secured to an insulated board within the electrical apparatus. One of the terminal members includes an electrical lead and a guide member secured to the stationary contact for mounting one end of a fuse. The other terminal member has a spring mounted contact member mounted in a guide bracket secured to the insulated board. The spring mounted contact member has an electrical lead and a bore member for receiving a bolt from the fuse for mounting the other end of the fuse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to removable fuses for electrical apparatus and more particularly to a spring actuated fuse holder for mounting a removable fuse within an electrical apparatus.

It is well known to those skilled in the electrical apparatus art that such apparatus must be protected from electrical overloads by means of fuses, circuit breakers, or the like. In many instances, the protective device, such as a fuse, is mounted within the electrical apparatus, usually under the oil or other liquid dielectric of the electrical apparatus. After the protective device has operated or ruptured, it is desirable that such protective device be easily reset or replaced when the electrical overload condition has been corrected.

The prior art has provided many examples of protective devices which are mounted internally of an electrical apparatus and which are readily removable from the exterior of the apparatus. Some of these protective devices have been mounted in the high voltage bushing of the electrical apparatus such as is shown in Patent 2,250,165. Other protective devices have been mounted in special holders built into the side of the electrical apparatus separate from the high voltage bushing as is shown for example in Patent 2,918,557. In many of these prior art devices, the protective member should not be used to interrupt current in the manner of a switch since they are not designed to be removed while carrying electrical current. As is well known, removal of these devices under load, may cause an arc to develop of sufiicient energy to blow the device out of the apparatus and, under some conditions, cause a line to ground fault. Either of these conditions may cause injury to the operator and damage to the equipment. For this reason, many users of electrical apparatus desire a protective device which is relatively inexcessible without removing the cover or hand hold of the electrical apparatus. One such removable fuse is shown in Patent 2,294,766. One of the problems of the fuse device of that patent is the difficulty of removal and replacement of the fuse once it has blown. Further, due to the construction of the fuse holder, it is very diflicult to replace the fuse without danger of contacting an energized portion of the fuse holder.

It is therefore one object of this invention to provide a fuse holder for a removable fuse for an electrical apparatus.

A further object of this invention is to provide a holder fora removable fuse which is to be mounted within an electrical apparatus and which is not accessible without removing a cover from the apparatus.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a holder for a removable fuse having a spring mounted terminal member in which a fuse may be readily inserted or removed.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Briefly, in one form, the fuse holder of this invention comprises a pair of terminal members which are fixed to an insulated board within an electrical apparatus. One of the terminal members has a guide member while the other terminal member has a spring mounted bore member which is slidable in a fixed guide. One end of a fuse device may be inserted into the bore member which may then be depressed to allow the other end to move under the guide member. The spring mounted bore member will then cause the fuse to seat firmly between the guide member and the bore member.

The invention which is sought to be protected will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims which are appended hereto. However, it is believed that this invention and the manner in which its various objects and advantages are obtained, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, particularly when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a fuse holder according to this invention showing one form of fuse mounted therein; and

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of the fuse holder and fuse of FIGURE 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT This invention relates to a fuse holder to be mounted within an electrical apparatus to hold a removable fuse device therein. The preferred embodiment set forth herein discloses the present specific construction believed most suitable for obtaining the various objects and advantages of this invention. Obviously various changes may be made in the invention hereinafter set forth without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing in which like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views, there is shown one form of a fuse holder for holding a removable fuse according to a preferred embodiment of this invention. As is shown, particularly in FIGURE 1, a fuse holder is mounted on an insulated board member 10. The board member 10 is mounted within an electrical apparatus (not shown) and, as will be understood, is so mounted that to gain access to the fuse holder one must remove either the cover or a hand hold of the electrical apparatus. As shown, the fuse holder comprises a pair of terminal members 12 and 14 which are secured to insulated board 10 in any desired manner, for example, by means of bolts 16 as shown. The upper terminal member 12 comprises a fiat member 18 which has bent sides 20 to act as a guide member for the upper terminal of fuse device 22. The upper terminal 12 is desirably formed of a single sheet of metallic material having a porton 24 secured to the insulated board 10 and bent at from the flat portion 18, in the manner shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. In the preferred form shown in the drawing, member 18 is provided with a guide member in the form of a pin 26 which is secured through an opening in member 1 8 by means of nuts 28 which are threaded on the threaded portion 30 of guide member 26. As will be understood, guide member 26 is provided with a shoulder which butts against the underside of member 18 and the threaded portion 30 extends through an opening therein. A high voltage lead 32 may be secured to the threaded portion 30 and firmly fastened against mem ber 18 by means of nuts 28, in the manner shown in the drawings. As will be understand, the upper contact member 34 of fuse device 22 may be provided with an opening which will fit into the guide pin 26 and will seat against the member 18 within the bent sides 20 in the manner shown in the drawing. Of course, it will be apparent that the member 18 with guide pin 26 could function sufiiciently as a guide device without use of bent sides 20, if desired.

However, as will be understood, it is necessary to provide some type of guide means, such as guide pin 26, which will firmly hold the upper contact 34 of the fuse device 22 during rupture of the fuse device.

The second terminal 14 of the fuse holder comprises a guide bracket 36 which is secured to the insulated board by means of bolt 16 as is shown. Mounted within the guide bracket 36 is a slidable cylindrical member 38 which carries thereon a fuse terminal receiving member in the form of a bore member 40 as is shown. A shoulder 42 is formed on cylindrical member 38 between the bore 40 and cylindrical member 38. Preferably, as will be understood, these portions are formed of a single piece. The bracket member 36 is desirably in a U-shaped form, as shown, and a spring means 44 is mounted about cylindrical member 38 between shoulder 42 and U-shaped bracket 36. Also, a second high voltage lead 46 is mounted on cylindrical member 38 and is held firmly against shoulder 42 by means of spring 44 as is shown. In order to prevent cylindrical member 38 from moving out of bracket 36, and prevent spring 44 from expanding or stretching fully, at cotter pin or other type of stop member 48 is provided in the lower extremity of cylindrical member 38 in the manner shown.

The opposite end of the fuse device 22 is provided with a terminal member 50' which includes a fuse bolt 52 secured to the terminal member 50 and depending therefrom. As will be understood, the fuse device 22 is mounted in the fuse holder by mounting fuse bolt 52 within the bore 40. The fuse device 22 may then be depressed, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIGURE 2, pushing bore 40 down toward bracket 36 and compressing spring 44 between the high voltage lead and shoulder 42 and the bracket 36. The opposite end 34 of fuse device 22 may then be inserted within the guide portion 18 between the bent sides 20. In the preferred embodiment shown, the opening in terminal 34 will be placed under guide pin 26. The fuse device 22 may then be released to allow spring 44 to extend, thereby pushing terminal 34 over guide pin 26 and securely against guide member 18 between bent sides 20. Of course, the spring member 44 will also push bore member 40 firmly against terminal 50 at the opposite end of the fuse device 22 as is shown.

As will be readily apparent from the above description and the figures of the drawing, the fuse holder of this invention will readily allow a fuse device to be mounted within such fuse holder or removed therefrom. Inasmuch as the insulated board 10 and fuse holder are mounted within the electrical apparatus, as well as the removable fuse mounted therein, it will be necessary to remove a hand hold or other cover from the electrical apparatus to gain access to the fuse holder and the fuse mounted therein. However, it will be apparent that by means of a shotgun or similar type of insulated stick utilized by utility employees the fuse device 22 may be readily inserted in the fuse holder or removed from the fuse holder without contacting any of the live portions of the fuse holder. Of course, it will be apparent that, where desired, a special tool which would nest the fuse device 22 may readily be mounted on the end of a switch stick or shotgun or other type of insulated tool used by utilities employees to provide for the ready insertion and removal of fuse devices within the fuse holder of this invention.

While there has been shown and described the present preferred embodiment of this invention, it will, of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made, for example, it will be apparent that the construction of a bore and cylindrical member may be revised in many ways and the high voltage lead may be secured to the second terminal in any specific desired manner. As will be apparent, all these changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, particularly as such invention is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and which it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A fuse holder mounted within an electrical apparatus for mounting a removable a fuse within such apparatus comprising;

(a) an insulated board member mounted within such apparatus,

(b) a first terminal member in the form of a flat plate having a guide means depending therefrom secured to said insulated board for receiving a fuse terminal,

(1) a high voltage lead secured to said first terminal member,

(c) a second terminal member secured to said board and spaced from said first terminal member,

(1) said second terminal member comprising a U-shaped guide bracket and a cylindrical member having a portion movably mounted within said guide bracket,

(2) a shoulder on said cylindrical member and a spring mounted about said cylindrical member between said guide member and said shoulder,

(3) a high voltage lead electrically connected to said cylindrical member and held against said shoulder by said spring, and

(4) receiving means forming a part of said cylindrical member for receiving a fuse terminal.

2. A fuse holder for mounting a removable fuse as set forth in claim 1 in which said guide means of said first terminal member includes a guide pin secured to said terminal member and depending therefrom.

3. A fuse holder for mounting a removable fuse as set forth in claim 1 in which said receiving means is a bore member above said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 287,320 10/1883 Perkins 337-l87 2,160,562 5/1939 Pittman et al. 337--62 2,166,254 7/1939 Kneisley 337l 2,633,515 3/1953 Locher 33762 2,658,126 11/1953 Filliette 337-62 2,427,390 9/1947 Dear 337-62 2,958,748 11/1960 Barden et al. 337-62 3,234,347 2/1966 Bergman 337-487 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

5 H. B. GILSON, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 337-187 

